Everyday Systems

Yesterday I finally got around to weighing my shovelglove, and was surprised to find that, for over a year now, I've been using an 8 pounder. I thought I had a 10 or 12 pounder, but wasn't sure, and had never bothered to weigh the thing. With the sweater, it came to right around 9 pounds.

My shovelglove routine hasn't been very challenging for the past few months, so I figured I would (finally) upgrade. I went to the hardware store and picked up a 12 pounder, figuring it would help make things challenging again without making them impossible.

It did indeed make things harder, moreso than I expected. For example, for a long while, I've been doing 50 shovels per side; with the new hammer, I was doing good to get 20 per side. And flip the lever now makes my arms burn again.

Josh--

That doesn't surprise me: think about it, you upped the weight by 50%!

That's a lot more effort per repetition.

Good job, keep it up, and don't be afraid to dial it back if you start getting extra sore.

Josh, I'm also on an 8-pounder. I've been wondering if I should upgrade too. I'm curious, how long and how regularly did you workout with the 8? How much progress did you make with the 8 compared to before you started shugging?

pirateman2k: I hadn't really thought of it that way (increasing the weight by 50%)!

blujay: Well, I started shovelgloving in August of 2008, and was using the 8 pounder up until now. I think I could have upgraded a few months ago, though.

While I've missed some days / weeks since starting, depending on what was going on in my life, generally speaking, I've stuck with the overall plan: Monday-Friday, 14 minutes a day, with weekends off.

Regarding progress, I can't say, exactly. I realize that sounds silly, but I'm also doing No S, so it's hard to say what caused what. However, I can say that since starting both, I've lost around 20 pounds while putting on some respectable arm muscles. A long way to go regarding weight loss, still, but progress is progress, I suppose.

blujay wrote:Josh, I'm also on an 8-pounder. I've been wondering if I should upgrade too. I'm curious, how long and how regularly did you workout with the 8? How much progress did you make with the 8 compared to before you started shugging?

8 pounds is a bit wimpy...

fungus wrote:

blujay wrote:Josh, I'm also on an 8-pounder. I've been wondering if I should upgrade too. I'm curious, how long and how regularly did you workout with the 8? How much progress did you make with the 8 compared to before you started shugging?

8 pounds is a bit wimpy...

What weight do you use?

fungus wrote:

blujay wrote:Josh, I'm also on an 8-pounder. I've been wondering if I should upgrade too. I'm curious, how long and how regularly did you workout with the 8? How much progress did you make with the 8 compared to before you started shugging?

8 pounds is a bit wimpy...

If that's what you think, then you're doing it wrong.

When the hammer starts to feel light, you just have to move it faster! I can get a serious sweat going with my little 6 pounder! You just have to think "cardio", and not "strength training".

blujay wrote:

fungus wrote:
8 pounds is a bit wimpy...

What weight do you use?

See the thread "Hammer upgrade time!" a couple of threads below this one ... http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=76229

What weight did you start with? How long did you use it before upgrading?

phayze wrote: When the hammer starts to feel light, you just have to move it faster!

Agreed ... but I get to the point where I can't physically move it much faster. When I can do eight or nine sets of 50 movements in 14 minutes then it's time to add weight.

blujay wrote:What weight did you start with? How long did you use it before upgrading?

I started with the 4kg hammer in the pic. That lasted about a month before I got the 5kg hammer.

That one lasted about six months then I added two 500g weights to it - 6kg.

The 6kg lasted about a year and I made it 7kg a couple of weeks ago.

With 6kg I was doing eight or nine sets of movements (ie. 50 moves left/right) in 14 minutes. With the 7kg hammer I'm down to five or six.

Lets not forget that... its not the weight... days on habit is the metric that is crucial...

That said i prefer to do exercises that wear me out 8 to 20 reps as to still be in a strength training zone.... so i do a full lunge when I shovel and chop and work on power and speed.

Also the further out you hold the hammer the more leverage the weight has and teh more resistance it has.

Unilateral exersices can also make a "small weight " seem very big.

Single leg squats?

I also do a flip leverish move which is very good for the posterior chain. its flip lever only doing a one legged deadlift...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oaZMERD ... re=related

phayze wrote:

fungus wrote:

blujay wrote:Josh, I'm also on an 8-pounder. I've been wondering if I should upgrade too. I'm curious, how long and how regularly did you workout with the 8? How much progress did you make with the 8 compared to before you started shugging?

8 pounds is a bit wimpy...

If that's what you think, then you're doing it wrong.

When the hammer starts to feel light, you just have to move it faster! I can get a serious sweat going with my little 6 pounder! You just have to think "cardio", and not "strength training".

I'd love to downgrade from 12 to 8... one of the reasons I didn't stick with it was cos it was just a little too heavy and my shoulder was recovering from an injury already, so i just stopped completely.. I'd prefer to be able to do more deft movements and be able to move quicker, than what i could do with the 12 lbs, and have it be more cardio vascular
I'm not working much lately so I have to put a halt on buying anything non essential (food, bills, etc..) but once I'm in a better position financially, I'll probably get an 8 lb'er, and give away my 12...

gratefuldeb67 wrote:I'll probably get an 8 lb'er, and give away my 12...

I'd keep it for when you've been doing it regularly for a few months...